Volunteering Victoria – Research Digest 7
1-15 May 2013
1. Research, reports, articles, blogs, presentations
Organisation / Item, source, keywords / SummaryPhilanthropy Journal
May 14, 2013 / Trend Spotter: Learning and leading non-profit organizations in uncertain times
volunteer leadership / Reports on a North Carolina survey of 66 small non-profits with budgets under 600,000 about how they were managing their organisations. Ongoing professional development and training and learning from peers were seen as very important.
Philanthropy Journal
May 11, 2013 / Trend Spotter: Challenges of evaluation for non-profit organizations
non-profit evaluation / Reports on the evaluation practices of small non-profits in North Carolina. Although most organisations report some form of evaluation. The study explores the difficulties and challenges these organisations face in relation to evaluation of programs.
The Guardian Voluntary Sector network
29 April 2013
Blog item / Why small charities can benefit from investing in trustee recruitment
volunteer leadership / A key solution for charities operating in difficult times is to improve the diversity of their trustee boards and ensurethat they have the best people governing the charity.
Giving Evidence
May 2 2013 / Good charities spend more on administration than less good charities spend
not-for profit administration / Evidence from the US organisation Give Well concludes that low admin costs do not signal that a charity is good. They signal the converse.
Asia-Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy, Swinburne Institute of Technology
(via Australian Policy online) / “Just do it” – making and measuring social impact
John Fitzgerald
Commencement Lecture
Swinburne University of Technology 14 March 2013
social impact measurement /
- Fitzgerald examines the pressure on philanthropic organisations to provide quantifiable short-term impact measurements
- argues that the question is not whether philanthropy is a good thing or a bad thing, large or small, a media darling or a threat to democracy. It’s a question of finding out just how good and impactful philanthropy can be when it does what it does best – when it accepts risk in support of social innovation and gets on with it.
The Guardian Voluntary Sector network
15 May 2013 / Cutting through the noise – using digital tools to tell your story
Adam Coulsen
social media /
- Third sector organisations using social media for awareness, should tell their digital stories with clarity, brevity and creativity.
International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) / CALL FOR PAPERS: Time for volunteering, time for leisure, time for life, Australian and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies conference,
Monash University 4-6 December 2013 /
- This conference is offering a critical analysis of volunteering within leisure.
The Guardian, 14 May 2013
Blog item / Austerity policies leave small voluntary groups on the brink
Mary O'Hara
austerity effects on volunteer groups /
- O’Hara argues that UK spending cuts are forcing community organisations that offer vital services to vulnerable people to close their doors
Leisure Studies / Unpaid work of love: defining the work–leisure axis of volunteering
Robert Stebbins, 18 Apr 2012
leisure, volunteerism /
- Stebbins argues that volunteering is both unpaid work and attractive leisure
European Sport Management Quarterly / Volume 13, Issue 1, 2013
Special Issue: New Perspectives on Sport Volunteerism
/ Useful journal issue for those interested in sport volunteerism. Brings together new perspectives on sport volunteerism presented at a conference of the same name in Madrid, 2011.
European Sport Management Quarterly / Changing roles: applying continuity theory to understanding the transition from playing to volunteering in community sport.
Graham Cuskellya & Wendy O'Brien
European Sport Management Quarterly. Vol 13 No. 1pp54-75
community sport, volunteers / Volunteers are often players transitioning from playing roles into non-playing roles such as administration and coaching. While a human resource management approach has been adopted to manage volunteers, little is understood in relation to the factors that contribute to players making the transition from playing to volunteering. Using Atchley's continuity theory, we propose a transition-extension framework that examines the psychological and social factors that provide the impetus for the transition to volunteering The framework also examines those factors that contribute to volunteers extending their involvement and may help community sport organisations provide an environment that will nurture volunteers in the transition phase to retain and extend their involvement to become long-term volunteers.
2. International peak organisations: news
Organisation / Item / ContentsVolunteer Tasmania / Volunteers Urged to Register Rights Violations
Volunteer Canada / Top Ten Benefits of Membership to Volunteer Canada
/ One-page flyer produced by VC for its members
Volunteer Canada / Skills-Based Volunteering
/ VC offers information and resources for its members about skills-based volunteering.